I am totally daunted by all the things I have to blog about. This post might be longer than the Spain post. So for the faint hearted I say skip right to the photos. For those who want to read a play by play...hold on tight because it's a wild ride.
Day 1
We showed up in Paris at around noon and took a while to find the coach to take us out to Chartes Cathedral. I slept almost the whole way out there because I was so tired. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm so but inside the caathedral it was FREEZING. Our tour took over an hour and though it was extremely interesting to hear the stories that stained glass windows show, I was so cold that the whole thing was border line miserable. Despite the cold it was a good experience. The stained glass really is spectacular but nothing can touch the cathedral in Toledo. That will probably forever be my favorite. After the cathedral we arrived back in Paris pretty late and checked into our hotel. Jenny and I got to be roommates and it was so fortunate. Neither of us are arbiters and Laura and CJ both are so the nights they had to stay up and wait for girls to check in we got to go to bed! Plus Jenny is downright awesome so I was thrilled to be with her. Adter checking in Laura, Cj, Sarah Marshall and I all got on the metro and went to see the Eiffel Tower. I knew it was tall but it is much taller than I had ever imagined. We got some good photos and then this weirdee man literally like pushed and pulled us into a photo with him. We were out in the open with people around so we weren't too concerned but it's just shocking how forward these French guys are. After a nutella crepe from this stand (where the man spoke Spanish and I was SO relieved) we headed back on the metro. Let me tell you about the Paris metro. It equals ghetto compared to London. In fact pretty much the fact that Paris has sketch men and skecth metro makes me love love love London more.
Day 2
After a good nights rest we got up and headed to Versailles. The directors struggled to figure out the RER trains and so it took us a while to get there. Once we did it was incredibly packed. You know when you are pushing through crowds in a palace that is ginormous that there are too many people there. I thought it was gorgeous but there were just wall to wall people that it was hard to take in everything else. The gardens were pretty wonderful, I can't get over how big the place is. I can kind of understand why the revolution happened. We walked around the gardens and got some lunch here but since it is still March and blooming hasn't happened yet we left Versailles at about one and went back into the city. We hit up the Musee de Orsay (I am going to misspell all the French from here on out. Sorry, I have no idea how to speak this crazy language). This is by far my favorite museum in Paris. They have so much impressionist art, which is my absolute favorite. My only complaint is that I couldn't read most of the captions about the art because they were in French. Other than that, the museum was pure paradise. I can't wait to go back with mom and dad. After the museum we met up with a bigger group and went down to the Seinne (???) to do a river tour. It was the most gorgeous thing and relatively cheap. I will have you know I did this entire trip under 100 euros. Proud of me mom and dad? They gave us 70 pounds on the program (which I pocketed and decided to use this week) so technically I didn't even spend my own money you know? Back to the river cruise however...it was lovely. I might make my parents go on one without me because it is just that romantic. I would be robbing them of a romantic time if I third wheeled it. So after the hour long river cruise we waited in line for the Eiffel Tower. It was a long, long, long wait. Eventually we got up there and it was awesome. I just don't have enough words to describe my love for everything about Paris.
Day 3
St. Patrick's Day! This was the absolute most productive and best day in Paris. We got up early and headed to Notre Dame. I loved this: a touristy place that will not let you down. Not only is the cathedral beautiful but the view from the bell tower (which we got into with our trusty museum pass!) is maybe my favorite view. I mean the Eiffel is legit but it's so far up there that you can't really see much. Also seeing the bell makes marching up all those stairs worth it. After Notre Dame we skipped on over a few blocks to Saint Chapelle. Thanks fo Jenny's French skills (yeah, she's my roommate. Lucky me!) and our museum passes we skipped the long lines and went right in. The stained glass here it breathtaking. It doens't portray the stories quite like Chartes does but it's probably my favorite stained glass ever. Next, we walked to the Cluny museum to see th Unicorn tapestries. On our way we stopped and tried our first Parisian pastries. Before this we had been going for the chocolate crepes. Let me tell you, once you try a pastry as good as the one I had there is no going back...okay I might have had two more crepes after that pastry but they were spread out over the next few days. And who counts calories when they are in France! After the Cluny museum where we ran into the McF's and the Howes we waked to rue Moufettard. It's this little street with fruit markets at the bottom and some great shops. It was suggested that we go there and try savory crepes and gelatos which of course we did. I am not sure I have ever had as good of food in my life. I will be taking my parents back for the same experience. Included in this marvelous outing to the marvelous street: seeing a very French neighborhood, Jake getting pooed on by a bird, and havign some random man take photos of us stuffing our faces with crepes. Only in France is that attractive. So continuing the day... we nest walked through the Toulleries which is like a little park attached to the Louvre and runs up to the Champs Elysees. This is where little kids push those boats around in the pond thing. Then despite the sore feet we walked all the way up the Champs Elysees (of course stopping at the Laduree for a caramel macaron) to the arc de Triomphe. We had a little pow-wow with the girls up there. There were ten of us that stayed together this whole day and had such a blast. Major bonding time. I love all the people on my study abroad. The more time I spend with them the mroe I realize how spectacular each person is. I am so fortunate to have the group I have and I am going to struggle being seperated from so many strong people. After our pow wow we went to the Louvre since it was open until nearly ten on Wednesday. My feet hurt so bad by this time that although the art was great, I was starting to feel so exhausted and pained by my feet that I wanted to head back. I toughed it out though because how often do you get to see the Louvre? Also... Jenny and I saw two mice in the Louvre. So in case you were tempted, don't eat off the floor there or anything. It's not as clean as it looks.
Day 4
Exhaustion really set in after yesterday. I woke up and felt like I hadn't even slept even though I got about nine hours worth. My feet hurt so bad so I wore my locals flip flops all day. I wish I had brought my comfy beaded sandals because they would have been perfect for today. Our first stop was the Orangery Museum. They have Monet's Waterlilies here and they are magnificent. Words cannot describe them so I won't even try. Then Annie, Michelle and I broke off and headed to the Rodin Museum. I like Rodin and I actually learned about him in my humanities class so it was a treat to see his famous works that I had to memorize for class last semester. One thing I will say though is that his work can get pretty sensual. It's kind of risque. Still this museum is worth the trip and it's in the cutest French neighborhood. Pretty high scale actually. We got some more pastries here after the art work. Next we headed to the Monmarte. This was quite the trip. After climbing more stairs to the Monmarte is really hit me that between the three more chins I have gained on this trip and the getting winded by walking everywhere I erally ought to cut some sort of good food out of my diet here. Maybe Nutella...maybe... maybe when I get back to Utah. Anyhow! The Sacre Coure is the church on top of this hill in Paris and it looks out over Paris. There is marvelous mosaic work in the Sacre Coure and after the church we walked around and got our charicatures done. They are awful and look nothing like us but I was bound to get ripped off sometime and they are worth the laughs they provide. It was so fun to hang with Annie and Michelle. I was a little worried about missing the Catacombs that everyone else went to but I am happy I chose to go to the Monmarte with them. After that we walked along the Seinne for the last time and headed back to tpick up our luggage to head home.
Basically Paris holds about 1/8 of my heart now. I can't wait to go back but nothing can beat London. Getting back home tonight was such a breath of fresh air. We have clean metros and gorgeous parks and loads of ethnic food and Big Ben and so, so, so much more. Therefore London holds the other 3/8 of my heart and Utah the remaining 1/2. But for now... Au Revoir Paris!
Day 1
We showed up in Paris at around noon and took a while to find the coach to take us out to Chartes Cathedral. I slept almost the whole way out there because I was so tired. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm so but inside the caathedral it was FREEZING. Our tour took over an hour and though it was extremely interesting to hear the stories that stained glass windows show, I was so cold that the whole thing was border line miserable. Despite the cold it was a good experience. The stained glass really is spectacular but nothing can touch the cathedral in Toledo. That will probably forever be my favorite. After the cathedral we arrived back in Paris pretty late and checked into our hotel. Jenny and I got to be roommates and it was so fortunate. Neither of us are arbiters and Laura and CJ both are so the nights they had to stay up and wait for girls to check in we got to go to bed! Plus Jenny is downright awesome so I was thrilled to be with her. Adter checking in Laura, Cj, Sarah Marshall and I all got on the metro and went to see the Eiffel Tower. I knew it was tall but it is much taller than I had ever imagined. We got some good photos and then this weirdee man literally like pushed and pulled us into a photo with him. We were out in the open with people around so we weren't too concerned but it's just shocking how forward these French guys are. After a nutella crepe from this stand (where the man spoke Spanish and I was SO relieved) we headed back on the metro. Let me tell you about the Paris metro. It equals ghetto compared to London. In fact pretty much the fact that Paris has sketch men and skecth metro makes me love love love London more.
Day 2
After a good nights rest we got up and headed to Versailles. The directors struggled to figure out the RER trains and so it took us a while to get there. Once we did it was incredibly packed. You know when you are pushing through crowds in a palace that is ginormous that there are too many people there. I thought it was gorgeous but there were just wall to wall people that it was hard to take in everything else. The gardens were pretty wonderful, I can't get over how big the place is. I can kind of understand why the revolution happened. We walked around the gardens and got some lunch here but since it is still March and blooming hasn't happened yet we left Versailles at about one and went back into the city. We hit up the Musee de Orsay (I am going to misspell all the French from here on out. Sorry, I have no idea how to speak this crazy language). This is by far my favorite museum in Paris. They have so much impressionist art, which is my absolute favorite. My only complaint is that I couldn't read most of the captions about the art because they were in French. Other than that, the museum was pure paradise. I can't wait to go back with mom and dad. After the museum we met up with a bigger group and went down to the Seinne (???) to do a river tour. It was the most gorgeous thing and relatively cheap. I will have you know I did this entire trip under 100 euros. Proud of me mom and dad? They gave us 70 pounds on the program (which I pocketed and decided to use this week) so technically I didn't even spend my own money you know? Back to the river cruise however...it was lovely. I might make my parents go on one without me because it is just that romantic. I would be robbing them of a romantic time if I third wheeled it. So after the hour long river cruise we waited in line for the Eiffel Tower. It was a long, long, long wait. Eventually we got up there and it was awesome. I just don't have enough words to describe my love for everything about Paris.
Day 3
St. Patrick's Day! This was the absolute most productive and best day in Paris. We got up early and headed to Notre Dame. I loved this: a touristy place that will not let you down. Not only is the cathedral beautiful but the view from the bell tower (which we got into with our trusty museum pass!) is maybe my favorite view. I mean the Eiffel is legit but it's so far up there that you can't really see much. Also seeing the bell makes marching up all those stairs worth it. After Notre Dame we skipped on over a few blocks to Saint Chapelle. Thanks fo Jenny's French skills (yeah, she's my roommate. Lucky me!) and our museum passes we skipped the long lines and went right in. The stained glass here it breathtaking. It doens't portray the stories quite like Chartes does but it's probably my favorite stained glass ever. Next, we walked to the Cluny museum to see th Unicorn tapestries. On our way we stopped and tried our first Parisian pastries. Before this we had been going for the chocolate crepes. Let me tell you, once you try a pastry as good as the one I had there is no going back...okay I might have had two more crepes after that pastry but they were spread out over the next few days. And who counts calories when they are in France! After the Cluny museum where we ran into the McF's and the Howes we waked to rue Moufettard. It's this little street with fruit markets at the bottom and some great shops. It was suggested that we go there and try savory crepes and gelatos which of course we did. I am not sure I have ever had as good of food in my life. I will be taking my parents back for the same experience. Included in this marvelous outing to the marvelous street: seeing a very French neighborhood, Jake getting pooed on by a bird, and havign some random man take photos of us stuffing our faces with crepes. Only in France is that attractive. So continuing the day... we nest walked through the Toulleries which is like a little park attached to the Louvre and runs up to the Champs Elysees. This is where little kids push those boats around in the pond thing. Then despite the sore feet we walked all the way up the Champs Elysees (of course stopping at the Laduree for a caramel macaron) to the arc de Triomphe. We had a little pow-wow with the girls up there. There were ten of us that stayed together this whole day and had such a blast. Major bonding time. I love all the people on my study abroad. The more time I spend with them the mroe I realize how spectacular each person is. I am so fortunate to have the group I have and I am going to struggle being seperated from so many strong people. After our pow wow we went to the Louvre since it was open until nearly ten on Wednesday. My feet hurt so bad by this time that although the art was great, I was starting to feel so exhausted and pained by my feet that I wanted to head back. I toughed it out though because how often do you get to see the Louvre? Also... Jenny and I saw two mice in the Louvre. So in case you were tempted, don't eat off the floor there or anything. It's not as clean as it looks.
Day 4
Exhaustion really set in after yesterday. I woke up and felt like I hadn't even slept even though I got about nine hours worth. My feet hurt so bad so I wore my locals flip flops all day. I wish I had brought my comfy beaded sandals because they would have been perfect for today. Our first stop was the Orangery Museum. They have Monet's Waterlilies here and they are magnificent. Words cannot describe them so I won't even try. Then Annie, Michelle and I broke off and headed to the Rodin Museum. I like Rodin and I actually learned about him in my humanities class so it was a treat to see his famous works that I had to memorize for class last semester. One thing I will say though is that his work can get pretty sensual. It's kind of risque. Still this museum is worth the trip and it's in the cutest French neighborhood. Pretty high scale actually. We got some more pastries here after the art work. Next we headed to the Monmarte. This was quite the trip. After climbing more stairs to the Monmarte is really hit me that between the three more chins I have gained on this trip and the getting winded by walking everywhere I erally ought to cut some sort of good food out of my diet here. Maybe Nutella...maybe... maybe when I get back to Utah. Anyhow! The Sacre Coure is the church on top of this hill in Paris and it looks out over Paris. There is marvelous mosaic work in the Sacre Coure and after the church we walked around and got our charicatures done. They are awful and look nothing like us but I was bound to get ripped off sometime and they are worth the laughs they provide. It was so fun to hang with Annie and Michelle. I was a little worried about missing the Catacombs that everyone else went to but I am happy I chose to go to the Monmarte with them. After that we walked along the Seinne for the last time and headed back to tpick up our luggage to head home.
Basically Paris holds about 1/8 of my heart now. I can't wait to go back but nothing can beat London. Getting back home tonight was such a breath of fresh air. We have clean metros and gorgeous parks and loads of ethnic food and Big Ben and so, so, so much more. Therefore London holds the other 3/8 of my heart and Utah the remaining 1/2. But for now... Au Revoir Paris!
Notre Dame
Eiffel Tower at night. It's sheer bliss when it sparkles!
Chartres Cathedral with Mary and Laura
The Dream Team. We got so much done together. I love all these girls.
Best Crepe in Paris... or at least on Rue Mouffetard
Saint Chapelle
Reesa and I in front of The Waterlilies
the charicature that looks nothing like me. Still, I love it.
The Sacre Coure
Rachel, So glad you loved Paris but you need to check your fractions. I'm not great at math, but I think that 1/8 + 7/8 + 1/2 = 1 1/2. Do you have 1 1/2 of a heart? Oh wait, sure you do!!!
ReplyDeleteOye, I am jealous. I'm glad you enjoyed and you get to go back, lucky dawg...
ReplyDeletehaha bonnie, I was thinking the same thing...but rachel does have a big heart! isn't paris just lovely? I'm SO glad you went to Montmarte and the Orangerie. Those were my two favorite things! And Lauderee of COURSE. Please try a licorice flavor macaron before you come home. trust me, they're DELICIOUS. and the berry flavor is good too.
ReplyDeleteFixed it. Good thing I am not studying math in school.
ReplyDelete